Brewing With Style

The styles popularized by Belgian (and one Dutch) Trappist breweries and the secular abbey breweries are single/blonde, dubbel, tripel and quadrupel/strong dark. They may be identified by the old Belgian numerical degree system (Rochefort 8), style (Westmalle Tripel) or unique brand (Chimay Grande Réserve). Single/blonde (5 to 6.5 percent ABV) and tripel (8 to 9.5 percent) are gold to dark gold in color. Dubbel (6 to 7 percent) and quadrupel/strong dark (10 to 12 percent ) are deep copper to brownish-red. Pale beers will be grouped together, as will the dark, as they can be crafted with similar ingredients.

The similarities among them include raw materials, as well as technique and brewing philosophy. Abbey/Trappist beers are highly attenuated and never heavy or cloying, but retain a touch of sweetness. Adjuncts are universally used, usually sugar, but sometimes also wheat or maize. The beers are almost exclusively presented as bottle-conditioned products and often are rambunctiously effervescent. Forced carbonation is convenient, but it is dismissive of the nuance that the yeasts impart over time. Both Wyeast and White Labs offer strains culled from abbey and Trappist breweries. They are indispensable.

Great Grains

The favored base malt is the delicately flavored pilsner variety. It lends the high fermentability and lean body common to these beers. Pale brews will need very little augmentation with specialty malts, if any. I prefer a simple grist of pilsner and Vienna, in a 3:1 ratio. Munich malt at 10 to 20 percent will add a backdrop of maltiness. If you feel the need to add specialty malts, stick with Carapils, light crystal or Caravienne, at 5 percent or less to minimize caramel character. Malted wheat could be used to add some creaminess and heading. Mash at 148 to 150 degrees F.

For dubbels, quads and strong darks, the grain bill is a bit more complicated, but also more malleable. Because the beers are still quite light in body in spite of the color, the selection of malt is even more critical. The necessary specialty malts should be used judiciously to get maximum color and flavor characteristics without bogging down the beer. Combinations of pilsner, Vienna and Munich malts as a base are an excellent starting point. I have used 100 percent Vienna malt or a 3:1 ratio of pilsner to Munich with great results.

Sticking with the dark brews, Continental European specialty malts, used at 10 to 15 percent of the grist, will contribute loads of the signature flavors and aromas. The “Cara” family is very diverse, ranging from 5 to 120 degrees Lovibond, imparting sweet caramel, toasted malt, toffee, rum, raisin and fig flavors and aromas, depending on the color. Aromatic malts offer intense malty character. Small amounts of special B (very dark crystal) and chocolate malt add plenty of color, but also extra depth. For proper attenuation, mash at 146 to 149 degrees F.

Most homebrew shops stock French and/or Belgian malts, designed specifically for abbey and Trappist beers. As German malt is very similar to French or Belgian in variety and specifications, it is essentially interchangeable. Adjunct grains such as flaked wheat or maize are commonly used in Belgium, and very traditional.

Extract brewers have at their disposal all the ingredients needed to make these heavenly brews. Extra light and light extracts made from pilsner malt provide the same foundation as grain brewers. Munich malt and wheat malt extracts can be used in place of up to 20 percent of the light malt extract. Avoid adjunct grains unless you do partial mashes, and then ensure that there is enough diastatic power included in the grist (See the Homebrewing column in the March 2013 issue for details). The inclusion of specialty grains and sugars is no different from that of all-grain brewers. And it goes without saying that hop schedules and yeast performance are also identical to more-advanced brewing techniques.

Adjunct Sugar

Sugar is a critical component of abbey and Trappist beer. It serves to boost gravity and fermentables, but, more importantly, keeps body relatively light without compromising complexity and richness.

Homebrew shops stock Belgian candi sugar in three forms: syrup, soft (similar to brown sugar) and rock. They come in several color grades, from virtually transparent (no color contribution) to very dark (180 degrees L). With color comes more pronounced and complex flavor and aroma. The lightest will be mostly neutral, with increasing caramel, raisin, date, toffee, vanilla, molasses and chocolate notes as the color deepens. The darkest one available includes some date sugar in the formulation. Some syrups are even laced with spices, botanicals and flavorings. Different forms will contribute to gravity differently due to moisture content. My rule of thumb is to start with a pound per 5 gallons of wort, added during the boil.

Unrefined sugars, such as demerara, turbinado, jaggery, piloncillo and date sugar, are superb choices. Plain dextrose (corn sugar) and glucose (table or cane sugar) can be used, but will only contribute gravity and little more.

Varietal honey can be matched impeccably with a personalized recipe. Try buckwheat honey in a dubbel or quad, clover or orange blossom in a tripel, and sourwood or tupelo in a blonde. Remember that the aromatics in honey are quite volatile, so add it at knockout or at the end of the boil.

Hops and Spices

None of these styles particularly feature hops but, of course, warrant some bitterness for balance, with IBU-to-gravity ratio between 0.35 and 0.5. Flavor and aroma additions are also reserved, but blondes and tripels support late additions well. Styrian Goldings, Kent Goldings, Saaz and German nobles are the more traditional cultivars used, but Perle, Strisselspalt, Challenger and Target also fit the bill. I like the earthy, floral and subtle citrus notes of Styrian and Kent Goldings and Czech Saaz for flavor and aroma, especially in pale brews. Perle and Goldings are my choice for dark brews.

Spices are used as an accent by some brewers. Coriander or grains of paradise in very reserved amounts would enhance any of the styles, and spices such as star anise would fit well with a darker brew. Add them late in the boil and keep the measure to a minimum, under an ounce per 5 gallons.

Yeast

Belgian beers are immediately recognizable and often defined by the conspicuous yeast contribution. There are enough different strains from Trappist and secular abbey breweries (Rochefort, Westmalle, Orval, Achouffe and Chimay) available to fit any personal preference. Most ferment without adverse effect into the mid- and upper-70 degrees Fahrenheit or beyond.

In fact, yeast expression will change from the low to high end of the fermentation range. Westmalle yeast is used by three Trappist breweries, each of which uses different conditions and schedules to get its desired, unique product. Orval uses two strains of Brettanomyces in addition to its house yeast, which used alone will still make an excellent blonde. As always, investigate the specs of your chosen yeast carefully before brewing.

Belgian strains tend to attenuate slightly more on average, but grain selection, mash temperature and sugar additions are equally important to achieving the proper mouthfeel and attenuation, often as high as 80 to 90 percent. They are pretty determined rascals and will stand up to extended bottle-conditioning and cellaring. Selected for this very characteristic, they will metamorphose and dry out significantly over time.

The yeasts are famous for their aromatic and flavor contributions, lending clove and phenolics, fruity notes (apple, cherry, pear and peach), spiciness (vanilla, cinnamon and pepper), and even banana and bubblegum depending on the strain. Fermentation temperature will determine which of these are suppressed or accented.

The heartiest forms of the style survive today as Baltic and imperial porters. These two porter progeny represent a harkening to British maritime roots as well as a Continental modification. Siblings to the more famous imperial stouts, the strong porters became templates for brewers in Scandinavia, Russia and Poland and adapted to local brewing practices and preferences. Some versions are bottom-fermented, others top, and they range from malty brown to roasty black.

Porter was initially developed as a strong, aged, hoppy version of the sweet brown ales that dominated London during the early 18^th century. The generous hop levels (making it beer rather than ale) and seasoned “stale” character offered a welcomed counterpoint to London browns. Porter was also brewed to compete with upstart pale ales. Both porter and London brown ale were made with brown, or blown, malt, cured over wood fires, a rugged, smoky product that was cheaper than pale malt.

Porter was brewed from a blend of successive mashings and was actually known as entire-butt beer, or simply “entire,” for the first few decades of its existence, “butt” being the 108-gallon cask used for storage. The maturation period of several months to a full year tamed the rough, smoky edge, but also unleashed the wild vinous and tart flavors from the wooden butts and their native microflora.

Entire became the beer of choice for the laboring class and acquired the slang “porter,” as it was so favored by the street and dock workers known by that name, many of whom loaded ships destined for Indian, Australian and Baltic ports. The hops and requisite beneficial aging ensured that it would arrive shipshape.

The Baltic fleets visited numerous ports along the coastal bays and inlets, many of which had established routes inland. This voyage may have been advantageous to the beer, as the conditions were cold and the duration relatively short, resulting in what was essentially a congenial period of cool, cellarlike conditioning. Baltic markets were particularly fond of the strongest porters (stout porter) and in return, would send oak for vessels and isinglass for finings back to Britain. The two materials were essential for production of fine ale, porter and stout.

The Russians concluded that it was nigh impossible to brew porter or stout without water from the River Thames, so the import of those brews was deemed critical. The empress herself insisted on a sustained supply for her and her court. Even when the Russian government imposed a tariff on nearly all British commodities in 1822, porter and stout were exempt, keeping the empress happy.

The brewing industry back in Britain was as robust and far-reaching as ever, especially for those who included these “imperial” dark beers among their offerings. Since the newly invented (1817) and patented black malt was still not in wide use, nor wholly embraced by London brewers, these dark beers were mostly brewed with copious proportions of brown malt.

“Imperial” also came into common usage as a means to designate a brewer’s strongest beer rather than something specifically made for the Russian court. Imperial stout, imperial stout porter, imperial London stout and imperial brown porter were a few of the descriptive names that brewers gave their products in advertisements. The extra designation of “Russian” was routinely attached in the early 20^th century to market these creations.

The beers came from Yorkshire, Scotland, Burton (in Staffordshire) and Dublin, but London unequivocally had the best brewers for these because of experience, conditions and raw materials, especially Thames water. By the mid-19^th century, roasted barley became a fairly common ingredient and helped create the pedigree for subsequent porters and stouts. Baltic, and especially imperial, porters would not be themselves today without noticeable additions of roast.

All of this explains how the Baltic regions fell in love with the strong porters and stouts of the 18^th and 19^th centuries, but doesn’t account for the actual brewing of porter in those regions. There were many breweries already in place: from Scandinavia, around the Baltic Russian rim and into Eastern Europe, many of which were poised to cash in on the love for porter.

The conditions were certainly different, being decidedly colder in northern and eastern environs, as were the brewing techniques, being heavily influenced by German bottom fermentation, especially on the Continent. This is where the Baltic style of porter really began to take shape.

Centuries of brewing in different regions of Europe meant that the yeast was selected over time to match the conditions of the brewery. Scandinavian yeast was different from that in Britain, which was different again from that of Estonia and Poland. Continental barley varieties differed from the British maritime cultivars, as did the malt, tailored specifically for the regional styles there.

The first Baltic brewery to specialize in porter was opened by Nikolai Sinebrychoff in Helsinki, Finland, in 1819. Its excellent porter is still made today, a remnant of the English imperial version with loads of roasted character and a base of kilned lager malts and German and Czech hops.

The Le Coq brewery was also opened in the early part of that century, in Tartu, in what is now Estonia. That site was selected because the water was deemed an excellent substitute for Thames water, the single most elusive and essential ingredient. Its beer relied even less on black or roasted barley, and tended to feature the toasty kilned malts favored by German and Austrian brewers. Those are also bottom-fermented and fully lagered, making for a rounded, bocklike profile.

Coincidentally, the early to mid-19^th century was the period in which bottom fermentation and lagering were becoming the norm, as was the fine-tuning of malt production and scientific brewing techniques. This made for a perfect storm in the development of Baltic porter.

In the United States, brewers make the British- and Continental-inspired versions and will generally designate them as imperial or Baltic porters. Generally speaking of European versions, Scandinavian porters resemble those of London imperial pedigree, with a firm roasted presence and top fermentation, while those brewing to the east and south (Estonia, Lithuania and Poland) are similar to the über-malty doppelbocks, with a touch of roast and bottom fermentation. All are roughly 7 to 9.5 percent ABV, with modest to minimal hop presence.

Baltic porters tend to be the tamer of the two styles, but are uncompromisingly deep. They are a brilliant composite of English brewing tradition, intrepid commercial savvy and regional, stylistic metamorphosis. Much of the complexity comes from use of Continental malts such as the kilned Munich or Vienna types for that malty base, as well as dark character malts that contribute notes of raisin, molasses, caramel and licorice. The reserved measure of roasted barley lends a deep reddish-black color as the norm.

Imperial porters rely on a heavier dose of roasted barley or black malt. Fermentation byproducts are usually somewhat muted, without much estery character, a result of subdued fermentation temperature and yeast selection. It is a perfect strategy to showcase the roasty notes and other contributions from dark malts such as the raisin, molasses and licorice highlights.

Porter may not be as highly regarded as stout, but remember that once it was truly the king of the beer world. And at the very top of the heap are the imperial and Baltic porters, beer that will make anyone feel like royalty.

Brewing Made Easy is a handy-dandy little guide to getting new brewers up and brewing quickly. By following this book’s easy-to-follow instructions, anyone can become a confident homebrewer in short order.

This is the second edition (the first edition dates to 1996). Both editions were written by Joe and Dennis Fisher. The brothers Fisher run an organic farm in Eastern Maine, and they also co-authored the popular The Homebrewer’s Garden: How to Easily Grow, Prepare, and Use Your Own Hops, Malts, Brewing Herbs (1998).

As the title suggests, this book was written with the beginner brewer in mind. After opening with the supportive exhortation, “You Can Brew It!” the following chapters cover the topics of Brewing with Malt Extracts, The Second Batch, Ingredients and Recipe Formulation, and, finally, Recipes and Styles. This slim paperback also includes a glossary, appendices on Amounts and Conversions and How to Use the Hydrometer, Sources for Supplies and Information, and an index.

First, the good news.

This small-format guide achieves its goal of making it easy and (relatively) painless to brew beer at home. It effectively conveys the simplicity of brewing with malt extracts, and it walks the reader through step-by-step instructions for getting it all right. The 25 recipes are mostly solid—if not a bit redundant—and the plentiful graphs and charts aid in keeping it all easy to understand. Simple line drawings and illustrations show various equipment items and ingredients.

There are also helpful hints that can only come from people with experience in the craft of brewing; I especially liked the idea of using a brand-new paint roller tray for holding small sanitized pieces of equipment, as well as having a spray bottle filled with sanitizing solution always at the ready.

Now for the downside. As an author myself (this reviewer is the author of Homebrewing for Dummies, a competitive book in this field), I can’t help but notice the loose editing of this book. Aside from the niggling things such as typos and incorrect cross references (where is page (00)?), I found the writers’ broad assumptions and overgeneralizations a bit troubling. I know from experience that newbie brewers often sweat and fret over every little point and can be easily misled by careless wording. As is often said, the devil is in the details.

Even more troubling were the handful of technical issues I identified (I couldn’t help noticing that the publisher did not list a technical editor in the front matter of this book); I’m guessing some of these are leftovers from the first edition that were never updated.

For instance:

To my knowledge, and seemingly confirmed by an Internet search, hop plugs are no longer available in the American market and haven’t been for years.

Gelatin is listed along with Irish moss as “finings.” Maybe this is a bit hyper-technical, but gelatin is not a fining agent. And the other true fining, isinglass, was not mentioned at all.

The small section devoted to Adjusting Water Chemistry is somewhat confusing, especially in suggesting substituting “half bottled water” to make tap water softer. Bottled water is available in a wide range of mineral content; I believe the authors meant to suggest using distilled water.

Perhaps most glaring of all was the repeated practice of steeping base grains. Several of the book’s recipes call for small portions of Munich or Vienna malt to be used as one would use a specialty grain. This is not recommended, as these grains are intended for mashing.

All in all, this book is still a good start for new brewers, as it contains the rudimentary instructions for brewing beer at home. But considering the surplus of other more-detailed homebrewing books available, I would suggest spending the extra couple of dollars on those instead. Your money would be wisely invested in your brewing future.

Berkeley, CA

The 2013 Hop Cuvée recipe includes Citra and Simcoe, two organic hop varietals not previously available as certified organic, as well the classic Centennial hop.

ABV: 5.5

ABW: 4.4

COLOR: 2

BITTERNESS: 50

ORIGINAL GRAVITY: 1056

AVAILABLE: AL, AZ, CA, DC, FL, GA, ID, IN, KY, NC, OH, OR, VA, WA

Belgium

Lambickx is the umbrella name to identify lambics personally tasted and chosen by Vanberg & Famille’s Don Feinberg, the first importer to specialize in bringing Belgian beer to the United States.

ABV: 5.75

ABW: 4.6

COLOR: NA

BITTERNESS: 24

ORIGINAL GRAVITY: 1048

AVAILABLE: AL, AK, AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MS, MO, MT, ME, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY

Harpoon Brewery

Boston

Style: Rye IPA

ABV: 6.9%

Review: Named for founders Rich Doyle and Dan Kenary—and sporting a picture of them in their younger days—the Rye IPA is a bit darker than the brewery’s flagship Harpoon IPA, with a highly complicated nose. Maybe orange? Maybe biscuit. Very big aroma with a matching large mouthfeel. True to style, it finishes with a delightful tartness, making it a great introduction into the world of rye.

Harpoon Brewery

Boston

Style: White IPA

ABV: 6.2%

Review: White IPAs have a heavy responsibility to deliver. This one brings its game. Hazy with hints of orange and lemon in the nose.  It drinks very soft and has a certain comfortable mildness, finishing with a bit of spice sitting on top of some hoppy fruitiness.

Harpoon Brewery

Boston

Style: Imperial IPA

ABV: 10%

Review: The Leviathan series from Harpoon has always delivered incredibly complex profiles—big and robust. This monster IPA is true to its family. Hazy (as is often the case with imperial IPAs), the Leviathan throws off an orange and lemon fruity nose. It shows a bright golden amber and drinks very deceptively mild with a rich body. The spice and fruit in the finish sits on top of a caramel richness and a hint of alcohol burn.

Harpoon Brewery

Boston

Style: IPA

ABV: 5.9%

Review: A 20-year-old classic, Harpoon IPA pours with a decided commitment to malt. Could we say it’s the Northeast version of IPAs?  Beautifully golden in color. A lot of malt also shows up in the finish. Definitely not a West Coast fruit bomb. Very piney in the finish, giving it the sense of English hops. It has an amazingly light mouthfeel for an IPA, making it ridiculously refreshing.

Lancaster, OH

Cask Aged Tripel is a strong golden ale aged in whiskey barrels from Middle West Spirits, a nearby micro-distillery.

ABV: 10.5

ABW: 8.33

COLOR: 7

BITTERNESS: 34

ORIGINAL GRAVITY: 1.090

AVAILABLE: IL, KY, NY, OH